The U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has created CMUs, or Communications Management Units, where the “management” part consists of denying inmates virtually all communication with their families and the outside world.
In its Terre Haute, Ind., facility, the BOP is concentrating Arab and Muslim inmates and limiting them to mailing one six-page letter per week, making one 15-minute phone call per month, and receiving only one 60-minute visit per month.
BOP’s actions have been challenged legally by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) which, The Nation magazine reports in its March 28th issue, contends inmates are being shifted to these facilities “based on their religion and/or perceived political beliefs.” Author Alia Malek writes, “The extreme nature of the (BOP’s) restrictions also raises the issue of cruel and unusual punishment,” forbidden by the U.S. Constitution.
Title: America’s Special Prisons for Muslims and Arabs
Author: Sherwood Ross
Source: Global Research
URL: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=23960
Student Researcher: Chante Noel, Sonoma State University
Faculty Advisor: Peter Phillips, Sonoma State University